One Step At a Time
by Heeroluva
Summary: What if Brian got caught before he made it to Miami? future Dom/Brian
1. One Step At a Time

Title: One Step At a Time  
Author: Heeroluva  
Rating: R  
Pairings: Dom/Brian  
Summary: What if Brian got caught before he made it to Miami?  
Warnings: Implied rape  
Word Count: 767  
Status: unsure  
Notes: This is my first TFATF fic. 2F2F doesn't happen. I just watched the movie again for the first time in years and fell back in love with it. As it is this can be a stand alone piece, but I may decide to continue it. Not sure yet. I'm bad about starting things and not finishing, so I'd hate to get more of a plot going then abandon it. This isn't beta'ed so if you see any mistakes let me know.

Three years – one thousand ninety five days since he had set foot out of this place. It felt like a lifetime had passed, that he went in one person and came out another, one that he didn't recognize when he looked in the mirror. Wasn't sure that he liked all that much. He walked with his back straight, head held high, not letting the pain he was feeling show. He never went down without a fight. That'd earned him some respect, some safety, but some others had found it exciting. He was just too pretty to give up on. He now knew why Dom said he'd die before he went back. He felt the same way. But he didn't regret his choice. He'd do it all over again, just to make sure that Dom, the team, his family went free. Vince and Jesse lived. The second was touch and go for a while but he pulled through. All they'd had on them was circumstantial evidence, nothing to put them away with. No one came forward, so the most they could do was question them and then let them go.

But they had plenty against him and they used it all. Three years at Lompoc, high security prison, no chance for parole. They could have sent him to a minimum security prison, they should have. But they saw him as a dirtycop that betrayed his own, and revenge was needed.

The guards jeered and leered as he walked by. They were no better than his once fellow inmates. One yelled out and laughed mockingly, thrusting his hips out and grabbing his crotch, "Hey sweetheart, I'll give you a free ride!"

Brian just kept going forward, one foot in front of the next, one step at a time, face straight, impassive. He had served his time, was free, no way was he going to fuck up on his way out.

The gates towered before him, a sight that he used to hate, but now was happy to see. He walked through, and they slammed shut behind him with a clang. He didn't look back, just kept walking down the desolate road. He didn't have anything on him, no possessions that he'd desired to keep. Just the nondescript clothes on his back that he was given upon exit.

The walk would be a long one he knew, but he'd done worse, been through worse. He heard the roar of an engine but didn't think much of it. He didn't expect the cheery red, Honda Civic that pulled up beside him, and he most certainly didn't expect Dom to be driving it. He looked the same as ever, shaved head and white wife beater.

His head was as smooth as Dom's now. He'd learned quick after the first night that long hair made for great handles. He fixed that the next day and been doing it since.

He realized that he'd been standing there just staring for who knows how long when Dom's raspy voice startled him. "You going to get in or stand there all day?"

He froze a second before hopping over the side into the passenger seat, which hugged him. He felt like he was home, or maybe that was Dom's arms that had reached over and surrounded him. He was surprised that the touch didn't repulse him, make him flinch like all touches had for so long. But Dom had never hurt him, Dom was Dom, Dom was family. More so than anyone he could remember. He turned his face into his neck taking a deep breath, reassuring himself that he was real, reveling in the scent that was just Dom and burrowed closer.

He'd always thought that nothing could be worse than juvie with a couple hundred hormonal adolescent kids. He thought he'd seen it all, but Lompoc had taught him that the kids didn't have the cruelty that many of the lifers did. He didn't realize that he was crying until Dom starting murmuring nonsense words of comfort, holding onto him even tighter.

He quickly fell asleep, feeling safe and secure for the first time in what seemed like forever. Always having to be on edge even in his sleep had exhausted him, but he knew that he'd be fine in Dom's arms. They'd protect him, even from himself. They had before. and he was sure they would again.

When he woke again they were speeding down a nameless highway, not another car in site. He didn't care where they were going because anywhere that Dom was, was home and that's all that mattered.

Note: I also did some research on crimes that Brian could be accused of. He probably would get more than three years. Most of them had no minimum sentence but a few of them had three plus years for the maximum sentence. But I didn't want him to be in that long, and he really would have no chance for parole.


	2. Ups and Downs

Title: Ups and Downs  
Author: heeroluva  
Prompt: #004 Mistakes  
Word Count: 500  
Fandom: The Fast and the Furious  
Pairing: Dom/Brian  
Rating: PG-13  
Spoilers: The majority of the movie  
Warnings: none  
Disclaimer: I don't own.  
Note: A companion piece to One Step At a Time. There's no need to read it first. This can stand alone.

From the moment I laid eyes on him, I knew he was trouble. That cocky, I'm on top of the world attitude, made him stand out in the crowd of regulars. Some hoping to make money, some hoping to get laid, but him, he just wanted to race, wanted the thrill. He didn't care if he won or not. He was in it for the adrenaline, as much of a junky as me. But me, I have to win. Loosing isn't ever an option.

When Vince said he was a cop, I believed him, but I couldn't help but hope that he was wrong. He seemed too real, too genuine, to play us like that, but I knew he was hiding something.

It was a mistake to take him in, but looking back, I know that things would have turned out worse if he hadn't. Vince would have been dead, and we all might have been in jail. I wasn't lying when I said that I'd die before I went back.

When I found out he betrayed us, I'd never felt such pain, felt so lost. I almost hated him in that instance. But when I found out that he didn't give up anything about us, took the fall for us, went to prison for us, I was shocked. I was silent for days, I think I worried the team, but I had a lot to think about. I'm sure that if it had been any other cop that we'd be sitting in Brian's place.

But we became family to him, which he was starved for. His dad left when he was too young to remember. After that his mom withdrew from the world, so he raised himself and took care of his mother until she just gave up on living in his mid-teens. That's when he got in trouble, got sent to juvie. He was mad at the world and no one was there for him.

I knew in that instance, that when he got out I'd be there for him, as no one else had ever been. We were family and family sticks together through the ups and downs no matter what.

When I pulled up and saw Brian walking down the road, head shaved, I wanted to cry, ask him so many questions. But when I finally managed to talk all that came out was "You going to get in or stand there all day?" Then he hopped in and before I even realized it, my arms wrapped around him, assuring me that he was real. I felt his tears, cool and wet on my neck, and all I could do was tighten my arms, murmur nonsense words of comfort. When he finally passed out, it was so hard to let him go, but I knew I couldn't drive with him arms around him, so I gently eased him back over into the passenger seat, and drove off, leaving the monstrosity of a prison in our dust.


	3. Family

Title: Family  
Author: heeroluva  
Prompt: #071 Masks for the slashthedrabble LiveJournal Community  
Word Count: 500  
Fandom: The Fast and the Furious  
Pairing: Dom/Brian  
Rating: PG-13  
Spoilers: The majority of the movie  
Warnings: none  
Disclaimer: I don't own.  
Note: A companion piece to One Step At a Time and Ups and Downs. This piece went through a lot of editions, still not quite happy with it. But it'll stay.

Dom glanced over at Brian, seeing that he was awake and staring at him. Brian gave him a weak smile that didn't reach his eyes. "No masks, no pretending, not around me, Brian. I've seen what you've seen, been where you are. I'll be here how ever you need me, but it has to be real." Dom reached over, grabbing his hand, and Brian squeezed hard, looking away in discomfort. "I know how hard it will be. But we'll make it through it. Together."

Turning his head towards Dom, Brian nodded, but couldn't quite meet his eyes. Even after his breakdown and nap, he still felt exhausted, off-balance. He truly hadn't expected to see Dom again. Was more than just a little shocked at having Dom pick him up, and was reeling from his declaration. He'd expected to have to start over on his own, drift around, try to find a job at a garage, save up a bit. Just disappear and be forgotten, one of the dregs of the system that he no longer had faith in, like so many ex-cons.

"Why are you doing this? I thought you'd be happy to see me rot. I betrayed you." He couldn't keep the guilt out of his voice, or stop the cracking.

"No you didn't betray me. Took me a long time to figure that out. If not for you Vince would be dead, and I'd probably be in jail for murdering Tran. You didn't narc us out. You took the fall. If that's betrayal I'll take it any day."

Brian still couldn't meet his eyes. "I didn't have a choice. You, the team, you're family. I couldn't do that to you. And I know that you wouldn't go back. I couldn't be responsible for that. It'd have destroyed me."

"Shit man!"

Brian jumped at the loudness.

"Sorry, but don't you ever pull that shit again, when I heard you were in prison, fucking Lompoc I thought I'd die. It wasn't a place for you, and I knew they'd be all over you. Pretty, fresh meat, and a dirty cop to top." Brian flinched and tried to pull his hand away. "Damn it, Bri, you know I don't mean it that way. You're safe with me. But I had nightmares about you. Flashbacks. Dreams that I was the one hurting you."

Brian's head rose. "No! I know you'd never do that to me. Sure you'd beat the shit out of me, the sense into me, if the need arose, but never that."

"Shh, I know, I'd kill myself first. I just can't help but think you'd fear me for—." Now it was Dom's turn to look away.

"Look at me. If I can't hide, neither can you. Dom nothing could make me fear you. I've seen the good and the bad. Family accepts both. And I'll say it a million times if I have to; you're family.

"Family," Dom agreed with conviction. They'd get through this, he'd see to that.

P.S. Anyone interesting in Beta'ing this series and other random works? I know I can't catch everything. I'd be forever in your debt.


	4. Revaulation

Title: Revaulation  
Author: heeroluva  
Pairing: Brian, Dom, Vince  
Warnings: past rape, fluffy angst, h/c  
Disclaimer: I don't own them. I just like to play with them.  
Summary: Brian meets Vince again.  
Notes: This is written for slashthedrabble's Prompt #259: Mess. All mistakes are mine. Feel free to let me know if you see any. As always feedback is appreciated.

Brian jumped as the loud slam of a door echoed throughout the house. He gave a self-depreciating laugh at his cowardice. One look at the dark expression on Vince's face had sent him running through the nearest doorway. Luckily he managed to find the bathroom in his haste to escape.

He flicked on the light, before hesitantly raising his eyes to the mirror and taking in his reflection. It was something he'd avoided doing in prison because he hated what he'd become, had been forced to become. He had enough physical reminders without it being reflected back at him.

Brian splashed water on his face, flinching as he scraped over the stubble on his head with trembling hands. God, he was a mess. He hated the lack of hair, hated what it represented, why he needed it, but he wasn't sure if he could let it grow out again, not yet. The paleness of his skin just helped emphasize the dark circles under his eyes, and the split in his lip stood out startling red against the dullness of his skin. Yeah, he looked like shit.

He jumped again and cursed as a hesitant knock started him out of his reverie.

"Bri?" Vince's voice was low and hesitant, and the last person Brian expected to be at the door.

Brian fisted his hands as the trembling increased and gritted his teeth in annoyance before cautiously opening the door. Vince stood off to the side, not blocking the door, obviously not wanting Brian to feel trapped for which he was thankful. Brian glanced around quickly, concerned when he didn't see Dom in sight, but tentatively stepped out of the small room.

Vince saw the quick search. "He's out in the garage blowing off some steam. He didn't want to scare you." Vince saw Brian about to protest but cut him off. "Don't. I know."

Brian felt the heat of a flush spread across his face and couldn't quite meet the other man's eyes after that.

"Look, man. I'm sorry."

Brian gave him a startled look.

"I wasn't pissed at you. I was pissed for you, for what had been done to you. Shit," Vince cursed. "This is weird. Look, I forgave you a long time ago." He held up his scarred arm. "You saved my life, save all of us, gave up your life for us."

Brian hesitantly met Vince's gaze, not flinching as he saw the fury in his eyes this time, knowing it wasn't directed at him.

"You could have turned us in, but instead you chose to go through hell for us." Vince swallowed thickly and Brian was surprised at the bright shine of wetness in his eyes.

When Vince held out his scarred arm, hand held out in invitation, Brian hesitantly took it, and when the other man pulled him forward into a hug, Brian went willingly.

Neither man noticed Dom standing in the shadowed doorway, or the small nod of approval he gave at the sight.


End file.
